


The cure for yearning

by MoonTearChild



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Awkward Crush, F/M, Octavio is an overprotective brother, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26061037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonTearChild/pseuds/MoonTearChild
Summary: Tae Joon Park was in trouble. And for once in his life, it didn’t have to do with deadlines for clients, or more recently, the syndicate that was chasing him down, no. It was something different, something foreign. Something that made his heart race faster than evading government agents ever had.Tae Joon Park had a crush.
Relationships: Crypto | Park Tae Joon/Lifeline | Ajay Che
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	The cure for yearning

Tae Joon Park was in trouble. And for once in his life, it didn’t have to do with deadlines for clients, or more recently, the syndicate that was chasing him down, no. It was something different, something foreign. Something that made his heart race faster than evading government agents ever had. 

Tae Joon Park had a crush.

It had terrified him at first. He had begun to feel funny, faint, and his heart would flutter and race. He didn’t really know  _ what _ he was feeling, convinced it was an oncoming panic attack, but it didn’t feel unpleasant. It had come on suddenly during the games, confusing him as he loaded up his gun again. But it was gone again as quick as it had come on, thoroughly throwing off his usual careful, precise rhythm he kept during the matches - his performance had become sloppy.

And then he realised that feeling only came about so strongly when interacting with one person.

“I’m down but still alive!” He splutters, clutching a hand to his wound. Fuck, that had hurt, but if he could get to cover, maybe he would be safe?

“Oof, compadre, you don’t look so good, I’m on my way.” Comes the voice through his comms, and Crypto can’t help but roll his eyes. More often than not, Octavio would run through squads to try and revive someone, leading the enemy right to where they were trying to revive.

“Stay there, Silva!” Comes Lifeline’s voice, and soon he’s being surrounded by a blue light. “Settin’ shield, healin’ ya!” 

And that’s when his heart begins to race, and it’s not because of the adrenaline flooding his system. Just hearing that voice was enough to make him panic, fumbling for one of D.O.C’s tether’s to hoist himself back up. 

“Gomawo.” He nods, crouching next to the small bot as he’s healed, wounds on his skin gradually knitting closed.

“Thank me when we win, ya hear me?” Lifeline laughs, shooting him a smile that makes him freeze up, nodding dumbly, and he watches her go, wingman in hand to chase after the runner with a look of determination. She really is beautiful.

Crypto groans, burying his face in his hands. He was utterly, truly in trouble.

  
  


“I need heavy ammo.” Lifeline announces, frowning as they move over the open fields, Crypto’s eyes focused on train yard, because there seemed to always be a squad fight there. And then he registers the request, fumbling to pull his backpack off his shoulders and digging around in it. 

“Here.” He says, voice soft, shy, as if he was embarrassed for having done so, but Ajay simply smiles, reaching out for the ammo, and their fingers brush as she takes the box.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He mumbles, eyes flickering to hers for only a second before he averts his gaze, a deep blush rising to his cheeks, and he’s immensely grateful that Ajay didn’t second glance him and see, because really, that would have been embarrassing. He slings the backpack back over his shoulders and pulls his coat collar a little higher to cover his face, trying to get his racing heart under control.

They’d made it through to the city fragment, but loot was scarce. It seemed like many squads had already been through the area, doors open and empty ammo casings littering the floor. It really was a mess. 

“Lookin’ for light ammo.” Octane pipes up, kicking an empty orange box to the side. “Looks like this place has already been sacked, sucks.” 

Crypto let’s out the barest ‘ _ mhm _ ’ in response, choosing a corner to squat in and pulling out his drone with his usual warning that he would be vulnerable, but he knew that Octane would just run off and leave him again. It’s how things usually went when they were on a team together, so why should he expect any different?

Navigating his drone through the ruined buildings, he pings at the banner, informing his teammates about the other squad passing through the sector, and offering to pick a fight, knowing that would pique Octane’s interest long enough for him not to run off and get himself killed. When he dispels the holoscreen in front of his eyes, he jumps, reaching for his gun out of instinct before he sees who’s perched next to him. It was Lifeline, sat on top of D.O.C casually, and she shoots him a smile that makes his stomach flip. 

“Didn’t mean to scare ya. We gonna keep movin’?” She asks, and Tae Joon notices that the daredevil is nowhere to be seen, evidently having run ahead. But Lifeline usually kept the man on a tight leash when they were squadding together, had she really waited for him instead of going with her friend? The thought makes his breath hitch, and he can feel his face tingling, so he quickly looks to the floor, readjusting his collar for what felt like the millionth time that day.

“Ya.”

“Lookin’ for a two times scope.” Lifeline sighs. Loot had been nigh on impossible to come across this match, and it was really starting to take a toll on their patience. Crypto frowned, chewing at his lip as he walked a little ways behind Ajay. He looks at his flatline, staring at the scope that was attached with a small huff. It’s not like he was using it much, what with the sentinel as his primary weapon, and even so, he was good enough with the gun at this point that ironsights weren’t  _ too _ much of a detriment. After a second of debate, he unclips the scope, trekking quickly over to an already picked open supply bin and dropping it inside before pinging the very item he had just dropped. 

“Ya, found one here.” He calls out over the comms, and the medic dibs it almost immediately. 

“Thank you, Crypto. Savin’ my ass this match.” She laughs, and the sound is so beautiful he can’t help but  _ smile _ \- something he hadn’t done in a long time. He simply nods at her, unable to trust his voice. He’s still stood there smiling like an idiot as she walks off, attaching her new found scope with expert precision. And then Octane walks past, gaze superglued on him, and a cold chill runs down his back. SSibal, how could he forget about their third? There was no way to tell what the runner was thinking, not when he had his mask on, and he can’t help but feel severely unnerved, foolish even.

  
  


Tae Joon is thoroughly shocked when he hears the telltale sounds of victory, of their team being declared the winners for that day. He turns, seeing Ajay still staring intently down the scope - the scope he had given her - before she realises too, and lets out a woop, face cracking from her serious and focused expression to a wide grin, and Octane lets a spray of bullets fly into the air.

“Yee-eah! We’re awesome!” He cheers, rushing in to pick Ajay up by the waist and spin her, laughing, and Crypto can do nothing but imagine that was him. That it was his hands delicately, shyly touching the exposed skin of her waist as he makes her laugh like that, and he swallows hard.

He’s barely three steps out of the locker room before he’s pinned up against a wall by a still incredibly sweaty Octane. Crypto yelps, eyes widening as he looks down at the man. 

“O-Octavio, what-”

“Shut up. You don’t get to call me that, pendejo.” He huffs out, mask pulled down so Tae Joon can see the snarl gracing his lips. “Whatever you’re tryin’ to do, she’s not interested. So I suggest you move along, got it, drone boy?”

Tae Joon would probably make a remark about how Octavio wasn’t scary, trying to intimidate him with his goggles still on like that, but he was frozen in fear. The man _ knew _ .

“Don’t tell her, please! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, I just…” He blinks, face flushing to a deep shade of red. “She’s really beautiful.”

“Si, she is. She’s also mi hermana, and she’s better than you, so keep your creepy eyes off her, comprende?”

Tae Joon understood. If someone he didn’t trust started flirting with  _ his _ sister, he would have done the exact same thing. But he  _ wasn’t _ flirting. He was… Simply admiring from afar, and- well that really did make him sound like a creep didn’t it? “I’ll keep your secret, but you back off, si?” The runner pushes him back against the wall agan, stepping away with two fingers pointing to his own eyes, then at Tae Joon, and he certainly didn’t need a translator for that.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Octavio turns, heading back to his own room, and his hands straighten out his coat. Great.

He, however, was not so easily deterred… In fact, the fact that the runner had told him to back off simply made him more determined. It was a bad habit of his, one he hadn’t quite broken yet, clearly. He was spiteful, unfairly so, sometimes. If  _ Ajay _ had told him no, that would be another story, of course. But he needed answers, to sate his own curiosity. He would talk to her… After he had worked up the courage.

It wouldn’t exactly be easy, it’s not as if they were friends outside the ring, what with her always busy doing something kind and caring, and him cooped up in his room being his usual antisocial mess, but he had to try, right? He would talk to her after the next match.

‘ _ Mila would be proud _ ’, he thinks to himself, and smiles, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

  
  


Stepping up to the platform, still groggy from sleep - or what little sleep he actually did have, having actually spent most of his night panicking over the intricacies of how one talks to women - Tae Joon is startled to find that he was once again paired with the medic that had caused his affections. But that wasn’t where the issue lay, no. They didn’t have a third. 

He swore that algorithm would come back to haunt him some day, and it really seemed like it would be today of all days, but really, what could he do? Then, that little voice in the back of his head speaks, and tells him this would be the perfect time to talk to her, softly verge into conversation about her interests, get closer, be smooth, maybe score a date. 

He was determined, and the moment they had both kitted up in basic gear and settled on where next to head, he was taking a steadying breath. It was easy, he had this.

Or, apparently not. Because his eyes had just turned to focus on Ajay, brain working on what to say that could possibly start off the conversation when his foot slips, losing traction in the loose dirt and gravel of the geyser’s hilly slopes, and he’s sent sprawling to the floor, hitting his head with a painful thunk that leaves him stunned, slipping down the rest of the way. He knew sooner or later there would be a consequence to running around the arena with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Mirage had made a point to mention that once, but he just wished it hadn't been right now that it had finally happened. 

He groans weakly in his throat, head throbbing as he opens his eyes. The light was too bright, and he was all too tempted to just stay there, wallowing in his own idiocy. To say he was mortified would be the understatement of the century. 

His vision swims in and out, fuzzy, and he wishes the ground would hurry up and swallow him whole. But then Ajay is running to him, concern etched on her features as she drops D.O.C, who chirps at him, and he feels like the little bot is mocking him. 

"You alright?" She asks, kneeled down next to him already pulling a syringe out of her bag to clear up the ringing in his ears, and he sighs, letting his head drop again, turning to the side to hide his flushed face. But then Ajay is grabbing his chin, making him look at her, and he still pointedly avoids her gaze. 

"Ye, jeon gwaenchanh-ayo." He mumbles, and his eyes widen, cheeks flushing darker, if that was even possible. He hadn't meant to revert to his native language, so maybe he did have some brain damage or something. "Kamsahamnida, Lifeline." He mumbles, pulling away the second the syringe is finished, and he stands, nodding stiffly as he walks away. If he could pretend like it wasn't bothering him, maybe everything would be okay. He felt like he had definitely blown his chance now, like if he tried to even bring it up, she would laugh, or worse, say yes out of pity. 

"Just us and them." Ajay says, fiddling with the small medkit charm on her gun with a sigh. Things had been tense since Crypto's fall, and he really didn't mean to come across so cruelly, he just thought it was for the best if he stayed quiet outside of essential talk. He hums, aiming down the scope of his sentinel with a frown. His head hurt. He hears the medic inhale, as if about to speak, and then he presses the trigger of his kraber, watching as the bullet collides with Pathfinder's optic in a perfect headshot. And then, they were being declared the winners. He looks around incredulously, before figuring that MRVN must have been a solo, and he can’t help but laugh, turning to shyly smile at Ajay, who looks… Proud? Maybe that was just his lovesick brain at work, and he knew by now that he'd need plenty of rest to sleep off this headache he had.

"Ku deh!" She grins, and punches him playfully on the shoulder.

  
  


That still wasn't enough to quell his embarrassment, however, and the second they're back in the compound, he's rushing to his room to hide away, possibly for all eternity, and maybe cry about how things never seem to go his way. He's just out of his game gear, settled in an oversized hoodie and some pyjama pants when there's a knock at the door. Tae Joon's less than a second away from telling them to go away, albeit in a much more aggressive way, but then they announce their identity. 

"It's Ajay, wanted to come check on ya." 

He freezes. His eyes dart around the room at all the mess scattered there, fried circuit boards and drone pieces, and he shoves his dirty clothes into the hamper as he stands, groaning when a wave of dizziness hits him again.

"Y-Ya, one second." He calls out, grabbing hold of the empty take out boxes and throwing them into the trash. This was embarrassing. He knows he can't spend much more time tidying else she gets suspicious, and opens the door, a smile that looks more like a grimace crossing his face. "Hi." He says, but it sounds more like a question, and he's mentally kicking himself for being such a mess. 

"Can I come in?" She smiles, ever patient it seemed, and he nods, though slightly confused. She wanted to come in? To his room? He steps aside, starting to wish he'd opened a window or something to air the space out, when Ajay pats the bed, already sat comfortably on the side. He flushes, eyes scanning about uncertainly, as if this was some kind of prank. What if Octavio had told her and she was here to mock him? "Just wanna check ya over. That was a pretty nasty fall." She says softly, as if reassuring him, and it doesn't really help, because now he's even more flustered, overthinking. 

"I could just go to the medics." He says, still stood in his own doorway. What did he do? Did he leave the door open, or shut it? Would she feel scared and uncomfortable if he shut it? He hesitates, and lets the door shut. Ajay looks unbothered, and he moves to sit next to her, maintaining distance. 

"I know." Her smile is so soft, it makes his heart beat fast, irregular, and his mouth is dry. This close, he can see the freckles that dot her cheeks, how long her lashes are, he can smell her perfume too, gentle and fragrant, and he wondered if the scent would linger once she left. She moves in closer, hand reaching for him, but it pauses in front of his face. "Can I? Just checking if you have a bump." 

He flushes at her need to ask his consent, and after a moment of floundering for his words, he nods, swallowing thickly to wet his dry throat. Her hands are small, dainty, but calloused from years of work, yet still they're soft, her touch is even softer, fingertips grazing over the shaved undercut, tracing his scalp, and he shivers. He isn’t sure where to look, so he simply closes his eyes. There's no doubt that she can see his flushed face, but hopefully she could chalk it up to how warm his room is, what with all his hardware turned on, constantly running (much like he was). He hisses as her hands come across a small cut just under where his hair began, and he tries not to imagine those nimble fingers combing through, softly petting his hair. It was inappropriate. "Hmm." She hums, her face a picture of concentration, and he allows himself a second to take in her beauty. Not to stare, he had learned his lesson about that, but one look wouldn't hurt, right? "Hold on a minute. Better make sure you’re not concussed." She fishes around in her pocket, pulling out a small flashlight, but her other hand stays cupped at the back of his neck, and Tae Joon can feel the warmth through the synthskin. The light shining in his eyes hurts, and Ajay is so close to his face, staring intently, he wants to blink, but figures he probably shouldn't. "All good." She smiles, and when she pulls away, he feels… Empty, like he wished she would come back and simply touch him again. "Pupil dilation is normal, just a bump. It'll pass." 

Tae Joon lets his eyes close, shaking slightly with the anxiety that had suddenly taken over him. Ajay had came here instead of sending one of the game provided medics, that  _ had _ to mean something, right? It was now or never.

“Ajay…” He starts, and his voice cracks from the pressure. 

“Hmm?”

“I- You… We should…” Stuttering, he decides that maybe it would be best to just give up. He was a mess, it was obvious. Tae Joon clenches his jaw, looking down at the floor. The bed shifts as the medic stands, and he feels a pang of hurt hit him in the heart. It was probably better this way. 

“Think ya owe me dinner for that, Hyeon, don’ you?” She laughs, and his head snaps up to look at her, surprise evident on his features. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but words seem to fail him and all he can do is nod dumbly. She liked him back? 

“Good, now get some rest.” She smiles, reaching her hand forward to ruffle his hair, and for once in his life, he doesn't flinch. But what truly catches him off guard is her leaning down, pressing her soft lips against his cheek. She moves back as soon as she moves in, clearly conscious of giving him space, and she shoots him a small wink before she leaves, shutting the door closed softly behind her. 

Tae Joon sits in stunned silence, softly touching his cheek where her lips had been. He could hardly believe it.  _ Ajay liked him _ . He catches his own reflection out of the corner of his eye in the mirror, turning to admire the remnants of mauve lipstick that graced his skin, and he can’t help but let out a giddy laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, be sure to like and comment, it lets me know I'm doing good!


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